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Facts About Cuba. 



PUBLISHED UNDER THE AUTHOPJTY OF THE 



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NEW YORK CUBAN JUNTA. 








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FACTS ABOUT CUBA. 



Situation. — Cuba is the largest and most fertile of the West 
Indies ; it is situated between 19° 49' and 23° 13' North latitude, 
and 74° 6' and 89° 59' West longitude from Greenwich. 

Area. — The Island, on a straight line from East to West, is 
about six hundred geographical miles long ; in width from North 
to South, varies from 21 to 135 miles. 

Territorial Division. — The Island was divided by the Spanish 
Government into three large departments : the Western, Cen- 
tral, and Eastern. These departments were subdivided into 32 
districts or jurisdictions, and the latter into partidos, of which 
there were 166 in all. Notwithstanding this, the people are ac- 
customed to denominate the territories into which they consider 
the Island divided, as follows : Vuelta Abajo, the portion em- 
braced from the meridian of Havana to Cape San Antonio, the 
western extremity of the Island ; Vuelta Arriba, from the merid- 
ian of Havana toward the East as far as Cienfuegos; Las 
Cinco Villas, from the meridian of Cienfuegos to that of Sanc- 
ti-Spiritus ; Tierra Adentro, from that of Sancti-Spiritus to that 
of Holguin, toward the East. 



Population. — According to the official census of 1862 : 

WHITES. 

Natives of Spain and of the Canary Islands 115,114 

Natives of Cuba 602,145 

Natives of the So. American Republics and Brazil.. 4,203 

Foreigners, natives of different States of Europe . . 4,999 

North Americans 2,496 

792,951=53.67 p. c. 

COLORED. 

Free 225,938 

Slaves 368.550 

594,488=43.67 p. c. 

Chinamen and Indians from Yucatan 34,973= 2.86 p. c. 

Total 1,359,238 100 

Wealth. — There were in Cuba in 1862 : 

Value. 
Sugar plantations 1,425 $222,035,724 

Coffee plantations 996 24,547,330 

Stock breeding farms.. 2,487 121,72,556 

Grazing farms 5,748 46,250,189 

Small farms, &c 22,496 57,080,152 

Tobacco plantations 9,481 18,468,562 

Total value of improved producing land $380,554,523 

Total value of urban real estate 170,400,833 

Total amoixnt of commercial and industrial pursuits . . 773,846,496 

Total $1,324,801,852 

The value of agricultural productions for the same year 
amounted, according to official reports, to : 

Sugar, molasses, and rum $62,127,666 

Coffee 2,595,396 

Tobacco 15,281,300 

Rice 1,747,474 

Wax 581,570 

Corn 5,449,310 

Honey 1,189,718 

Bananas 6,915,535 

Feed for horses 3,976,726 

Sundry productions 24,357,628 

Cattle 5,285,200 

Total $129,510,518 



5 

Commerce. — We have 110 sufficiently late reports to show 
accurately the amount of the imports and exports. The former 
amounted in the year 1859 to $43,465,679, and the latter to 
$57,455,185. Out of these amounts the United States repre- 
sented $12,192,369 imports and $24,076,853 exports. Taking 
into consideration the constant progress which the trade of the 
Island has made during the last ten years, it may confidently be 
stated that the increase has been 50 per cent, up to the breaking 
out of the revolution, and, therefore, we will say that the amount 

of imports was then $65,198,518 

And the amount of exports 86,182,777 

$151,381,295 

Of which the United States repre- 
sented, for imports $18,288,553 

And for exports 36,115,279 

$54,404,832 

Therefore, the United States take 36 per cent, of the total 
amount of the commerce of Cuba. 

The main articles imported into Cuba from the United States 
are provisions, timber, hardware, machinery, and agricultural 
tools. Those exported from Cuba to the United States are 
sugar, molasses, ram, tobacco, cigars, honey, and wax. 

Public lievemtes. — The amount of taxes collected in 1866 by 
the Spanish Government was $26,806,382. As we have no later 
official reports, we estimate that, with the new taxes imposed in 
1867, the public revenues in 1868 must have amounted to $35,- 
000,0000. About $12,000,000 of this amount is derived from the 
Custom House, $2,000,000 from the government lottery, $11,- 
000,000 from taxes upon the productions of the soil, and the 
balance from taxes on trade and other sources. To this amount 
there can be added with all certainty from $15,000,000 to $20,- 
000,000 more, which the people pay in fraudulent exactions and 
contributions of all kinds. 

The Government of Madrid has been receiving for the last ten 



6 

years, from Cuba, from $5,000,000 to $10,000,000 annually, called 
the xiltra-ma/rine surplus • and besides, it has made Cuba pay 
the expenses of the Penitentiary of Fernando Po, oif the coast 
of Africa, which costs not less than $200,000 a year. Cuba also 
paid the expenses incurred by the Mexican expedition in 1863, 
which amounted to $10,000,000, and also paid the expenses of 
the war with St. Domingo, which amounted to about $22,000,000. 

It is not to be supposed, from the word surplus being applied 
to the amount of money taken by the Madrid Government from 
Cuba, that it is a surplus remaining after all the wants of a 
civilized people are attended to. Far from this being true, we 
learn from the official reports published by the Spanish Govern- 
ment, that in 1862 only $84,233 were devoted to public schools, 
and in 1866 only $194,571 were spent in public works, and that 
to invest this small amount it was necessary to pay to employees 
$106,249. The few public schools which are scattered through 
the country are generally supported by the local city councils. 
The Government has ordered most of them to be closed since 
the breaking out of the war. 

None of the railroads on the Island have received any assist- 
ance from the Government. Neither hospitals nor asylums tor 
the poor have been established, and on the contrary the Govern- 
ment has appropriated to itself different sums donated by private 
citizens for that purpose. Among a host of other instances, this 
was done with a donation of $100,000 made by Donna Maria 
Josefa Santa Cruz, to found a hospital, and a like sum raised from 
a fair got up by Don Tomas Reina, the profits to be appropriated 
to the building of an asylum for the poor. No one knows what 
has become of these funds since the Government took possession 
of them. 

Government. — The government of Spain in Cuba has always 
been an absolute military despotism, personified in the Captain- 
General of the Island, who, from the year 1825, has been expressly 
invested with the powers of the governor of a besieged town, 



and who in reality has exercised an unlimited dictatorship more 
or less arbitrary, according to the temper of the functionary who 
has filled this office. Notwithstanding this, the Island had always 
been regarded as an integral portion of the Spanish Monarchy, 
and therefore had undergone the same political vicissitudes as 
the mother country, electing and sending its representatives to 
the Congress of the Nation, when any existed, till 1837, when 
the representatives legally elected by Cuba and Porto Bico were 
excluded from the Constitutent Cortes, under pretext that the 
Colonies were to be governed by special laws. From that time 
the system of spoliation grew stronger in Cuba, and Spain from 
day to day has been enlarging it. The Captain-Generals trans- 
formed themselves into irresponsible dictators. Their inferiors 
followed their examples, neglecting their duty to make money at 
all hazard. The African slave trade was encouraged, notwith- 
standing formal treaties with Great Britain, and a political ex- 
cuse was found for it under the name of a counter-balancing of 
races, in order to overawe the Creoles with the increasing number 
of negroes, when in reality the only object of the Spaniards was 
to enrich themselves with the large profits arising from that 
inhuman traffic. The press was enslaved to the most rigid and 
capricious censorship. 

The Cubans lost all participation in public affairs. At every 
step they were terrified with the epithet of lad Spaniards, or 
traitors, and under pretense of supposed conspiracies, they were 
arbitrarily incarcerated, exiled, and put to death. 

The Government drew a dividing line between the peninsular 
Spaniards and the natives of Cuba. The latter were excluded 
from all public employments ; driven from all profitable occupa- 
tions, in order to make room for Europeans ; molested in the en- 
joyment of their property, and obliged in order to obtain a pre- 
carious personal security, constantly to make presents and pay 
black-mail to the agents of the Government. 

Army and Navy. — In the month of October, 1868, Spain had 



8 

in Cuba twelve regiments of infantry, one corps of engineers, one 
of artillery, two of cavalry, one section of civil guards, one 
regiment of armed firemen, one regiment of prison guards, two 
companies to do duty in the military hospital, and five regiments 
of infantry and cavalry militia. 
These forces amounted in all : 

Regular troops of all arms, including officers =. 14,300 - 

Civil guard 640 

Prison guard 120 

Armed firemen 1,000 

Infantry and calvary militia 3,400 

Soldiers who had served their time, but were kept in service. . . . 300 



19,760 

in which are included the garrisons of the forts, of the military 
hospitals, etc. In fact, out of these troops, only 10,000 regulars 
could take the field. This regular force was distributed as fol- 
lows : 1,500 in the Eastern Department, 3,000 in the Central, 
and the balance in the Western. 

Their armament was first-class, although not all their arms 
were of the latest styles, for they had only received at that time 
6,000 Remington rifles; besides, there was a large supply of 
arms, ammunition, and war material. 

There were in Cuban waters at this time : 

Steam frigate Gerona, wood screw propeller 51 guns. 

" " Carmen, " " " 40 " 

Second class steamer Blanco Garay 6 " 

Ulloa 6 " 

Third class " Bazan 3 " 

" '•' Neptune 2 

" " Venadito 2 

" Don Juan de Austria 1 

" " Guadalquivir 2 " 

Screw steamer, schooner rigged, Africa 3 " 

" " Huelva 3 " 

" " Andaluza 3 " 

" " Guardiana 3 " 

" " Isabel Francisca 3 " 

Total, 14 men-of-war, with 128 guns. 



II. 



THE REVOLUTION. 

In 1846 the annexation movement commenced, which pro- 
duced the expedition and death of Narciso Lopez, in 1850 and 
1851 ; the more recent armaments under General Quitman and 
others ; and finally, in 1855, the imprisonment and death of 
Eamon Pinto, with the banishment of numerous patriots. These 
attempts, though unsuccessful, caused, however, some impression 
on the Madrid Government, who at last saw the necessity of 
softening, in some degree, the despotic rule under which the" 
colonies were held, and began to quiet them with promises of 
concessions. 

A party sprang up at that time, which was called the Re- 
formist Party ; and although it was not in consonance with the 
feelings of many of the Creoles, and although they had very little 
faith in the sincerity of the Spanish Government, and still less 
in that of its agents in Cuba, they did all in their power, con- 
sistently with their dignity, to come to a settlement which might 
recognize and assure the rights of the colony without impairing 
the interests of the nation ; and after great and protracted efforts 
they succeeded, in 1866, in obtaining the institution of an in- 
quiry in Madrid, the object of which was to consider and deter- 
mine upon the political, economical, and administrative reforms 
which were required by Cuba and Porto Rico. The Commis- 
sioners elected by the City Councils of Cuba and Porto Rico 
fulfilled their task honorably, demanding political liberties under 
the form of colonial self-government, free trade, and the aboli- 
tion of slavery; but they very soon discovered that they had 
been imposed upon. 

The only reform which the Government decreed for Cuba was 



10 

a new system of taxation a good deal more oppressive than the 
one they had before. The Government uttered the impudent 
falsehood of saying that the new system originated with the 
Commissioners. As for the rest, if any change took place on 
the Island, it was to renew and enlarge the unlimited power of 
the Captain-G-eneral ; to suspend the civil courts of justice, in 
order to establish courts-martial ; to decree the banishment of 
hundreds of peaceful citizens, without trial, and to increase the 
flocks of corrupt officials who preyed on the vitals of the country. 

Carlos Manuel de Cespedes, an able lawyer and wealthy plant- 
er of Bayamo, in the Eastern Department, raised the standard 
of independence on his estate, Demajagua, in the jurisdiction of 
Manzanillo, at a short distance from the town of Yara, of which 
he immediately took possession, on the 10th of October, 1868. 
One hundred and forty-seven men, without arms, except forty- 
five fowling pieces, four rifles, and a few pistols and machetes (a 
long sword), were all the force that Cespedes controlled in taking 
this daring step. On the 12th he already had 4,000 men, but 
indifferently armed ; toward the end of the month his army 
numbered 9,700, and on the 8th of November, 12,000. 

On the 13th of October the patriots obtained their first tri- 
umph over the Spaniards, defeating them at Yara, Baire and 
Jiguani. The latter is an important town, and was captured hy 

Donato Marmol, with many prisoners, among them the governor 

* 

of the town. On the 15th they laid siege to Bayamo, a city of 
10,000 inhabitants, and on the 18th took possession of the city, 
and Cespedes established his government there. On the 8th of 
November, after having sustained various encounters around 
Tunas and Baire, and forced Colonel Demetrio Quiros, who had 
marched against them from Santiago de Cuba, to retreat with 
great loss, the patriots had advanced to within a mile of that 
city, the capital of the Eastern Department, cutting off the 
aqueduct, and bringing it to great distress. On the 23d they 
were masters of the towns of Caney and Cobre, where they re- 



11 

mained for more than a month, until it became necessary to con- 
centrate all their forces to oppose General Valmaseda, who with 
a large army was marching on Bayamo. 

On the 28th of October the jurisdiction of Holguin rose in 
arms. On the 4th of November that of Camaguey imitated 
their example, and the patriots captured a train with arms and 
ammunition landed at ISTuevitas, taking prisoners the soldiers who 
guarded it. Yalmaseda, on learning the formidable proportions 
which the revolution had taken in the Central Department, then 
passed by sea from Manzanillo to Yertientes and from Yertien- 
tes to Puerto Principe ; but finding his position in that city un- 
tenable, took refuge in ISTuevitas. From thence toward the end 
of December he commenced his march in the direction of Ba- 
yamo, which he reached on the 16th of January, finding it a heap 
of ruins ; for Cespedes, unprovided with the means of resisting 
a siege led by forces accompanied by artillery, had set fire to 
the whole city with the unanimous consent of its inhabitants. 

The insurrection then presented such a formidable attitude, 
notwithstanding the evacuation of Bayamo, that Captain-Gen. 
Don Domingo Dulce thought it prudent to attempt pacifica- 
tion by conciliatory means, and sent two commissioners with let- 
ters to Carlos Manuel de Cespedes, the first of which wrote a 
communication to the Cuban leader on the 19th of January, re- 
questing an interview. Cespedes agreed to this, expressing at 
the same time his conviction that all efforts to secure a compro- 
mise would be fruitless, the patriots being resolved to conquer 
their independence. This interview never took place on account 
of the death of the Cuban leader Augustus Arango, who was 
murdered by the Spanish volunteers on entering Puerto Principe, 
notwithstanding that he was at the time the bearer of a safe-con- 
duct issued by the Spanish Governor of Manzanillo, and was en- 
tering the town for the very purpose of carrying on those nego- 
tiations. 

The second commissioner was not more fortunate in his attempt. 



12 

He delivered to Cespedes a letter from General Dulce, dated at 
Havana, on the 14th of January, in which the General expressed 
himself as desirous of the termination of the war that was de- 
stroying all the elements of wealth of that favored country ; but 
Cespedes made answer that he had at that moment heard of the 
murder of Augustus Arango, and that no Cuban would enter 
into further conference with the Spanish Government. 

On the 9th of February, 1869, the whole of the district called 
Las Yillas rose in arms under the direction of General Federico 
Cavada, a colonel in the United States volunteer service during 
the Southern rebellion. 

A brief sketch of some of the actions which since then have 
taken place will not be devoid of interest. 

AvHl IT. — Colonel Francisco Rubalcava (Cuban) reports to 
the President of the Republic, that he attacked a convoy pro- 
ceeding from Manati to Las Tunas, killing 23 men, taking 97 
prisoners, among them 7 officers, besides 115 rifles and muskets, 
a field-piece, and other arms. 

May IX. — An expedition, composed of 205 men, under the 
command of Francisco Javier Cisneros, accompanied by General 
Thomas Jordan, landed in the bay of Nipe. One hundred and 
fifty of the country people immediately joined them, and, though 
attacked by a Spanish force, the Cubans succeeded in repulsing 
them, and saving the large quantity of arms and other supplies 
they carried with them, until they were re-inforced by a body of 
2,000 men. 

June 6. — The Commander-in-Chief, Manuel Quesada, defeated 
the Spanish troops, numbering 600 men, who were marching to 
Las Tunas escorting a convoy, of which he captured four wagons 
laden with provisions and ammunition, together with important 
papers. 

June 21. — The same General reports to the Secretary of War, 
Francisco V. Aguilera, having marched from Penon, at the 
head of 300 men — infantry and cavalry — with which he attacked 



13 

and destroyed the enemy's camp, between Sabana Kueva and 
Caniaguey, killing 20 men, and taking one captain, two lieuten- 
ants, two ensigns, two sergeants, a corporal, and 72 soldiers, pris- 
oners. Besides this, he captured all the arms, horses, and equip- 
ments found in the camp. 

July 20. — The Cubans, under General Ignacio Agramonte, 
commenced to bombard Puerto Principe, capital of Camaguey. 
Their artillery, commanded by Major Beauvilliers, fired 17 
grenades into the town, causing much damage to the public build- 
ings. Major Cantu, with 80 horsemen, took possession of the 
bridge of Santa Cruz, and defended it against the enemy, 
repulsing them with loss. Colonel Bobadilla, on the side of the 
Plaza de la Caridad, entered the city, took, a large amount of 
provisions and other stores, and having accomplished the object 
of the assault by rescuing a considerable number of families, 
the Cubans retired in good order. 

August 16. — General Quesada, at the head of 1,200 men, with 
a piece of ordnance, attacked the town of Las Tunas, which 
was garrisoned by 600 to TOO Spanish soldiers, and defended by 
strong intrenchments and artillery. The attack was to have 
taken place at three o'clock in the morning, at four points at 
once; but a detachment having sallied from the town on the 
previous night, to procure provisions, met the Cubans under Col- 
onel Cornelio Diaz, who were advancing from the west, and 
retreated. This detachment then fell upon Cuban General Vi- 
cente Garcia, who was waiting for the signal to attack, and hear- 
ing the enemy, opened fire, causing them to take refuge in the 
town, which was thereby alarmed. The firing was heard by 
Cuban Colonels Bernabe Yarona and Tomas Mendoza, who 
were posted respectively in the north and south, and, without 
waiting for any orders, they marched on the town. 

The Spaniards were intrenched behind the outer houses and 
earthworks, and, making use of their artillery, sought to keep 
the Cubans at bay ; but the latter dislodged them, and drove 



14 

them into the plaza, the approaches to which were fortified. One 
hundred and fifty Spaniards shut themselves up in the barracks ; 
but the Cubans took this building at ten o'clock in the morning, 
and the Spaniards, before abandoning it, put to death several 
political prisoners who were there detained, and fied to the 
plaza, leaving behind them seventeen dead bodies, more than 
fifty muskets, and a great quantity of ammunition and accoutre- 
ments. The Cubans then directed their fire against the steeple 
of the church, where some pieces of artillery had been mounted, 
and succeeded in dismantling this building and silencing the 
battery. There was then no further obstacle toward gaining 
possession of the whole town but the works of the plaza, which 
were defended by deep ditches, and could not be taken in front ; 
so the patriots resolved to assail them in flank, by breaking 
through the walls of the intervening houses. At this moment, 
when the breach was nearly finished, and about two o'clock in 
the afternoon, General Quesada was informed that a body of 
eight hundred Spaniards was approaching from Maniabon, and 
he then retired in good order, without being pursued by the en- 
emy. During the fight a part of the Cubans devoted themselves 
to carrying off a number of families who had been suffering 
there under Spanish cruelty, leaving only a few inhabitants, 
among whom were the wives of Generals Garcia and Rubalcava, 
who were detained within the fortification. 

In the Military Hospital, and in the houses of several officers, 
the patriots found and took more than two hundred arms, many 
cartridge boxes, and eleven "flags, besides 27 prisoners. The 
Cubans lost 26 killed and 82 wounded ; the Spaniards confess to 
a loss of 102 men. 

November 21. — The camp and fort of San Jose, defended by 
the Barcelona Chasseurs, under the command of Colonel Jose 
Saenz de Tejada, was attacked by the Cubans, who were led by 
Colonel Bernabe Varona, with such success that they had al- 
ready summoned the fort to surrender, when two Spanish col- 



15 

umns from Las Minas and San Antonio came up, obliging the 
assailants to retreat. 

This fort is one of the line formed around Puerto Principe, 
for its defense. The others are Forts Eodas and Yoluntario ; 
the latter is in the form of a half-star with three points, three 
guns, good ditches, stone walls and embankments, wells, and sub- 
terraneous stores for ammunition. All these have been built 
since the commencement of the war. 

The Spaniards have thrown up another triple line of fortifica- 
tions in the territory of Las Yillas, traversing the Island from 
north to south. In the first, which is the strongest, are Moron, 
Las Piedras, Sanchez, Ciego de Avila, Pitajones and Jucaro ; in 
the second, Eanchuelo, Lazaro, Jicotea, Guayacanes, and La 
Ceiba; in the third, Chambas, Guadalupe, Marroquin, Eio 
Grande, and Limones. Each one of these has a good garrison, 
and it is hoped by their aid to bar the passage of the Cubans. — 
(Diario de la Marina, December 8.) 

November 22. — The Cubans recovered their old positions on 
Mogote, causing the forces sent out from Santiago de Cuba, by 
Count Yalmaseda, to retreat with great loss. Mogote is a moun- 
tain at the foot of which runs the road from Manzanillo to Ba- 
yamo, communications between the places having been thus cut 
off. 



16 



III. 

Spanish Re-inforcements. — Since the commencement of the 
war, Spain has sent out to Cuba, according to the statement 
made in the Cortes, on the 30th of November last, by Gen. Prim, 
40,000 men, besides which nine battalions and about thirty com- 
panies, numbering in all about 12,000 men, have been raised on 
the island and sent to the seat of war. 
'The Spanish volunteers are well organized, drilled, and equipped 
with the best arms purchased in the United States ; but they are 
entirely confined to the cities, and do not take any part in the 
fighting. 

The navy, which, as we have before stated, was composed in 

October, 1868, of 14 vessels 128 guns, 

has been afterward re-inforced with the following : 

IRON CLADS. 

Victoria 27 „ 

Zaragoza 21 „ 

WOODEN FIRST CLASS STEAMERS. 

Almanza 48 „ 

Lealtad 37 „ 

SECOND CLASS. 

Cadiz 17 „ 

Fernando El Catolico 18 

Isabel La Catolica 16 „ 

Pizarro , . 6 „ 

Balboa 6 „ 

Hernan Cortes 6 „ 

' THIRD CLASS. 

Churruca 2 ,, 



17 



STEAM SCHOONERS. 

Juanita 3 guna. 

Sirena 3 « 

Favorita 3 " 

Condor 2 « 



GUN-BOATS. 



Louisa . 
Gitano. 
Figaro . 
Union . 
Maria. . 
Indio. . 



ARMED MERCHANT STEAMERS. 



Moctezuma. 
Marsella. . . 
Barcelona. . 

Gorrion 

Concha. . . . 
Matanzas . . 
Pinero 



oagua. . . 
Cardenas. 
Comercio. 
Triunfo. . 
Pelayo. . . 
Damuji. . 



Delta. . 
Omega. 



SAILING GUN-BOATS. 



TRANSPORT. 



San Quintin. 



SCHOOL-SHIP. 

Pinta 6 " 

Total, 52 vessels, with 402 guns, 

besides the 30 gun-boats armed with one large Parrot gun each, 
lately built in the United States. 
2 



18 

FORCES OF TIIE PATRIOT CUBANS. 

The Cuban army, which in November, 1868, was composed of 
12,000 men, now numbers 40,000, under the following organiza- 
tion : . 

Commander-in-Chief General Manuel Quesada. 



STAFF. 

Chief General Thomas Jordan. 

Chief of Artillery Major Beauvilliers. 

Brigadier-Major of Orders Bernabe Varona. 

Sanitary Department Adolfo Varona. 



4 First Division — Army of Camaguey. 

Major-General .» Ignacio Agramonte. 

First Brigade Colonel Miguel Bosse. 

Second " • ■ . General Francisco Castillo. 

Third " Colonel Cornelio Porro. 

Fourth " " Lope Becio. 

Fifth - " " Manuel Valdes Urra. 

Sixth " " Manuel Agramonte. 

First Battalion -. " Pedro Becio. 

Second " " Jose Lino Coca. 

Third " " Rafael Bobadilla. 



Second Division — Army of Oriente. 

Major-General Francisco Aguilera. 

First Brigade General Donato Marmol. 

Second " " Luis Marcano. 

Third " « " Julio Peralta. 



Third Division — Army of Las Villas. 

Major-General Federico Cabada. 

First Brigade : General C. Acosta. 

Second " " Salome Hernandez. 

Third " " Adolfo Cabada. 



19 



SUPPLIES OF ARMS FOE THE CUBANS. 

The want of arms, severely felt by the patriots at the com- 
mencement of their struggle, has been supplied from time to 
time by their friends abroad with the following shipments : 

On the 26th of December, 1868, General Manuel Quesada 
landed at Guanaja with 83 men, and an armament composed of 
2,700 muskets and corresponding ammunition. 

On the 11th of May, 1869, Francisco Xavier Cisneros landed 
at the Bay of Eipe with 205 men, 2,500 rifles, 10 pieces of 
artillery, ammunition, clothing, shoes, etc. 

On the 14th of May, Colonel Rafael Quesada went into the 
port of Nuevas-Grandes in the steamer Salvador, purchased by 
and belonging to the Cuban Republic, with 129 men, one 
cannon, 900 rifles, and other war stores. 

On the 20th of June, Antonio Jimenez landed at Baitiquiri, 
from the schooner Grapeshot, with 30 men, 600 rifles and 
ammunition. 

In October, an expedition from Jamaica reached Cuba safely, 
with some hundred guns, powder, medicines, etc. 

About 2,000 more guns have been introduced in other small 
lots. 

LOSSES OF THE SPANIARDS. 

General Buceta, in a letter published in the Diario de la 
Marina of Havana, on the 24th of June, stated that all the 
official dispatches written to the Government by the officers of 
the army, in which they claimed that the soldiers of Spain come 
out triumphant and unhurt from every action, were false. How- 
ever, El Cronista, a paper in the interest of the Spanish Gov- 
ernment, published in New York, confessed, a few months ago, 
that out of the 26,000 men sent out to Cuba from Spain, only 
10,000 remained. 



20 



TV. 

ESTABLISHMENT OF THE REPUBLIC. 

During the first month of the war, a provisional government 
was organized at Bayamo, with Carlos Manuel Cespedes at its 
head, who, on the 30th of October, 1868, published a manifesto, 
declaring that he would not impose his government on the 
people of the Island, and that he was ready to submit to what- 
ever the majority of its inhabitants decided, as soon as they 
could freely assemble to make use of their right of self-govern- 
ment. 

On the 10th of April, 1869, a convention met at Guaimaro, 
presided over by Cespedes, and composed of Miguel Gutierrez, 
Eduardo Machado, Antonio Lorda, Tranquilino Yaldes, and Ar- 
cadio Garcia, representatives from Yillaclara ; Honorato Castillo, 
representative from Sancti-Spiritu ; Jose Maria Izaguirre, for 
Jiguani ; Antonio Alcala and Jesus Rodriguez, for Holguin ; 
Salvador Cisneros, Francisco Sanchez, Ignacio Agramonte Loy- 
nas, Miguel Betancourt Guerra, and Antonio Zambrana, for 
Camaguey. A draft of a Constitution was laid before this body, 
which was discussed and amended until it was finally adopted, 
as follows : 

Article I. 

The Legislative power shall be vested in a House of Repre- 
sentatives. 

Article II. 

To this body shall be delegated an equal representation from 
each of the four States into which the Island of Cuba shall be 
divided. 



21 



Article III. 

These States are Oriente, Camaguey, Las Villas, and Occi- 
dents. 

Article IV. 

No one shall be eligible as Representative of any of these 
States except a citizen of the Republic, who is upward of twenty 
years of age. 

Article Y. 

~No Representative of any State shall hold any other official 
position during his representative term. 

Article VI. 

Whenever a vacancy occurs in the representation of any State, 
the Executive thereof shall have power to fill such vacancy until 
the ensuing election. 

Article YII. 

The House of Representatives shall elect a President of the 
Republic, a General-in-Chief of its Armies, a President of the 
Congress, and other executive officers. The General-in-Chief 
shall be subordinate to the Executive, and shall render him an 
account of the performance of his duties. 

Article VIII. 

The President of the Republic, the General-in-Chief, and the 
Members of the House of Representatives are amenable to 
charges which may be made by any citizen to the House of Rep- 
resentatives, who shall proceed to examine into the charges 
preferred ; and if in their judgment it be necessary, the case of 
the accused shall be submitted to the Judiciary. 

Article IX. 

The House of Representatives shall have full power to dismiss 
from office any functionary whom they have appointed. 



22 



Article X. 

The Legislative Acts and decisions of the House of Represent- 
atives, in order to be valid and binding, must have the sanction 
of the President of the Republic. 

Article XI. 

If the President fail to approve the Acts and decisions of the 
House, he shall, without delay, return the same with his objec- 
tions thereto, for the reconsideration of that Body. 

Article XII. 

Within ten days after their reception, the President shall re- 
turn all Bills, Resolutions, and Enactments which may be sent 
to him by the House for his approval, with his sanction thereof, 
or with his objections thereto. 

Article XIII. 

Upon the passage of any Act, Bill, or Resolution, after a 
reconsideration thereof by the House, it shall be sanctioned 
by the President. 

Article XIY. 

The House of Representatives shall legislate upon Taxation, 
Public Loans, and Ratification of Treaties; and shall have 
power to declare and conclude War, to authorize the President 
to issue Letters of Marque, to raise Troops and provide for their 
support, to organize and maintain a Navy, and to regulate re- 
prisals as to the public enemy. 

Article XV. 

The House of Representatives shall remain in permanent ses- 
sion from the time of the ratification of this fundamental law by 
the People, until the termination of the war with Spain. 

Article XYI. 

The Executive Power shall be vested in the President of 
the Republic. 



23 



Article XYII. 

No one snail be eligible to the Presidency, who is not a native 
of the Republic, and over thirty years of age. 

Article XYIII. 

All treaties made by the President may be ratified by the 
House of Representatives. 

Article XIX. 

The President shall have power to appoint Ambassadors, Min- 
isters-plenipotentiary, and Consuls of the Republic, to foreign 
countries. 

Article XX. 

The President shall treat with Ambassadors, and shall see 
that the laws are faithfully executed. He shall also issue official 
commissions to all the functionaries of the Republic. 

Article XXI. 

The President shall propose the names for the members of his 
Cabinet to the House of Representatives for its approval. 

Article XXII. 

The Judiciary shall form an independent, co-ordinate depart- 
ment of the Government, under the organization of a special 
law. 

Article XXIII. 

Voters are required to possess the same qualifications as to 
age and citizenship as the Members of the House of Represent- 
atives. 

Article XXIV. 
All the inhabitants of the Republic of Cuba are absolutely 



free. 



24 



Article XXV. 

All the citizens are considered as soldiers of the Liberating 
Army. 

Article XXVI. 

The Republic shall not bestow dignities, titles, nor special 
privileges. 

Article XXVII. 

The citizens of the Republic shall not accept honors nor titles 
from foreign countries. 

XXVIII. 

The House of Representatives shall not abridge the Freedom 

ion, nor of the Press, nor of Public Meetings, nor of 

Education, nor of Petition, nor any inalienable Might of the 

Peo 

Article XXIX. 

This Constitution can be amended only by the unanimous 
concurrence of the House of Representatives. 

On the following day (the 11th), the Assembly proceeded to 
elect their officers, and the following were chosen : 

President Salvador Cisneros. 

Secretaries \ Ignacio Agramonte Loynaz. 

( Antonio Zambrana. 

Vice-Secretaries J Mi S uel Betancourt. 

( Eduardo Machado. 

The House then, in conformity with the provisions of the 
Constitution, appointed Carlos Manuel Cespedes President of 
the Republic, and Manuel Quesada Commander-in-Chief of the 
Army. These tinkers entered upon the discharge of their duties 
on the 12th. 

At a later date several Representatives took their seats in the 
House : Jorge Milanes, for the district of Manzanillo ; Manuel 



25 

Gomez Silva, for Camaguey ; Manuel Gomez Peiia, for Guan- 
tanamo ; Tomas Estrada, for Cobre ; Pio Posada, for Santiago 
de Cuba ; Fernando Fornaris, for Bayamo ; and Pedro Agiiero, 
for Las Tunas. 

The first sessions of this Assembly were held at Guaimaro ; 
afterward they have been held at Cascorro and Sibanicu. 

Guaimaro is a town of 3,965 inhabitants, with 496 houses. 
It is 55 miles from Puerto Principe, 30 from ISTuevitas, and 36 
from Las Tunas. 

Cascorro and Sibanicu are two towns, situated in close proxim- 
ity to one another. They have together a population of 5,000 
inhabitants. 

The Spaniards have never been able to take any of these towns, 
though they have always had large forces at Puerto Principe 
Nuevitas, and Las Tunas, commanded by their best officers, among 
whom was Count Valmaseda. 



ABOLITION OF SLAVERY. 

In including within their programme the abolition of slavery, 
the Cubans have acted consistently with the whole tenor of all 
the petitions addressed to Spain at various periods. The most 
eminent writers and thinkers of Cuba — the men who by their 
teachings have prepared the way for the Revolution, such as Va- 
rela, Saco, Delmonte, Luz Caballero, and others, have been abo- 
litionists, and have suffered persecution, imprisonment, and exile 
in consequence. During the civil war in this country, the Cu- 
bans distinguished themselves from the Spanish residents of the 
Island by their open sympathies with the cause of the Union, and 
their aversion to the principles proclaimed by the Southern 
confederacy, involving as they did the maintenance of slavery. 

El Siglo, a Havana paper that represented the liberals of the 
Cuban party, used to applaud with enthusiasm the triumphs of 
the Federal army, and maintained with courage the doctrine that 



26 

the victory of the South would have been a fatal blow to the prog- 
ress of humanity. And further, the commissioners sent to 
Madrid in 1868 to propose the reforms demanded by the people 
in their political and social institutions, pronounced almost unan- 
imously in favor of the gradual emancipation of slaves. Accord- 
ingly, one of the first acts of Carlos Manuel Cespedes, in October, 
1868, was to proclaim the abolition of slavery. On the 24th of 
February following, the Assembly of Camaguey decreed the 
same in an absolute and unconditional manner. 

The Constitution of the Republic declares in its 24th article, 
that " all the inhabitants of the Republic of Cuba are abso- 
lutely free." 

JUDICIARY. 

By the law enacted on the 6th of August, 1869, the Adminis- 
tration of Justice is vested : 

First — In a Supreme Court. 

Second — In Criminal Judges. 

Third — In Civil Judges. 

Fourth — In Prefects and Sub-Prefects. 

Fifth—In Courts-Martial. 

The Supreme Court is composed of a president, two judges, 
and a judge advocate. 

Each State of the Republic is divided into various judicial 
districts, each with a civil judge, a criminal judge, and an attor- 
ney for the Commonwealth. 

Among other facts which denote the impartiality with which 
these courts administer justice, we will cite the case of a Cuban 
named Borjes, who was tried by them, and condemned to death 
for having murdered a Spaniard named Manuel Colza, a native 
of Santander. 

ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANIZATION. 

In every State there is a civil governor. The States are divi- 
ded into districts, each of which is governed by a lieutenant- 



27 

govenor, and these districts subdivided into prefectships and sub- 
prefectships. All these functionaries are elected by the people. 

The best proof that this organization is working and in force, 
has just been afforded by the Spanish Government itself, which 
published in the Havana papers a telegram dated the 8th of 
December last, in which the Spanish Commander-General of 
Cinco Villas reports to the Captain-General that the prefect of 
Santa-Clara, Don Agustin Hernandez, had presented himself to 
him. 

The civil governor, elected by the Cubans for the State of Las 
Villas, is Joaquin Morales. For the State of Camaguey, Carlos 
Loret de Mola was appointed in May, ad interim. On the 
25th of September, Manuel Ramon Silva was elected in his place. 

LAWS PASSED BY CONGRESS. 

11th May, 1869 — Law granting amnesty to all political pris- 
oners not sentenced. 

4th June, 1869 — Law prescribing the requisites for marriages 
and authorizing. 

7th June, 1869 — Law declaring the commerce of the Republic 
free with all nations. 

June 15, 1869. — Law authorizing the emission of $2,000,700 
legal tender paper money, the Republic promising to redeem it 
for specie at par as soon as circumstances should permit. In 
anticipation of this enactment, the ISTew York Junta had, at the 
request of President Cespedes, caused to be engraved in this 
city, and sent out to Cuba, the currency required. 

July 9, 1869. — Law organizing the different departments of 
the army, and ordaining that every citizen between the ages of 
18 and 50 should be obliged to bear arms. 

August 6, 1869. — Law regulating the administration of justice 
as aforesaid. 

August 7, 1869. — Law describing the powers of the adminis- 



28 

tration and the functions of the Secretaries of State, tog ether 
with those of other civil officers. 



RECOGNITION BY FOREIGN POWERS. 

Many of the Spanish-American Republics have hastened to 
express their sympathies in favor of their new-born sister. 

The Mexican Congress authorized President Juarez to recog- 
nize the Cubans as belligerents, and gave orders that the Cuban 
flag should be admitted in the ports of that nation. 

Cuban belligerency was acknowledged by Chili on the 30th of 
April, by Peru on the 13th of May, and by Bolivia on the 10th 
of June. 

Peru recognized her independence on the 13th of June. 



29 



Y. 



PRESENT STATE OF THE REVOLUTION. 

A few evidences among many that we could furnish, will tend 
to show the actual strength of the revolution : 

On the 11th day of October last, the Voz de Cuba, a Spanish 
paper published in Havana, said in a leading article : " Is it 
possible that in Guaimaro, four days' journey from Havana — 
two by sea, and two by land — there should have existed for the 
last eight months a G overnment of traitors ; that they should 
have been holding sessions, issuing decrees, publishing papers, 
and exercising all the rights of sovereignty V 

The world has never heard since then of the capture of Ces- 
pedes, of the dissolution of the Cuban Congress, or even of the 
capture of Guaimaro. On the contrary, on the 25th of Decem- 
ber, the telegraph informed us that General Puello had left 
Nuevitas with 3,000 well-armed men, in the direction of Sibani- 
cu and Guaimard, determined now to take these towns. 

By order of Captain-General Caballero de Rodas, the "Official 
Gazette of Havana" published, on the 19th of October last, for 
general intelligence, as he expressed it, the affidavit of an insur- 
gent who had surrendered to the Spaniards, and who, from having 
served as a clerk with several prominent Cuban leaders, had been 
in a position to acquire information about the insurrection. 

This witness declares the existence of a Republican Govern- 
ment, with C. M. Cespedes as President, Francisco Y. Aguilera 
as Minister of War, etc. ; that Congress was then in recess, and 
that on the 25th of September, elections were to be held at Ca- 
maguey. Jose Ramon Boza and Eduardo Agramonte were candi- 
dates for Representatives to Congress, and Manuel Ramon Silva 
for Governor of the State ; that Manuel Quesada was General-in- 



30 

Chief; Ignacio Agramonte, Major-General in the district of 
Camaguey ; Bernabe Yarona, Major-General of Orders ; Beauvil- 
liers, Chief of Artillery. He mentions, besides these names, those 
of thirty-seven brigadier-generals, colonels and majors, among 
whom we notice Colonel Benitez, a Spaniard ; that there is no 
uniformity in the arms of the troops, but that they have many 
Spencer and Remington rifles ; that some of the Spanish officers 
who are prisoners of war are instructing the Cuban troops ; that 
the dress of General Quesada is a black or grey suit, white shirt, 
grey hat, with the Cuban cockade and the initials " Y. C. L." in 
gold letters, and a sword with a gold hilt in the form of an eagle ; 
that the staff of Quesada wear red flannel shirts, patent leather 
boots, Panama hats, and cockades with the letters " Y. C. L." in 
silver ; his escort wear blue flannel shirts, white or black panta- 
loons, and Panama hat. 

All are armed with Spencer rifles, and have good horses and 
equipments ; that the Sanitary Department is in charge of 
Adolfo Yarona and other physicians ; that the work goes on, on 
the farms, as usual, especially at Guaimaro and Sibanicii, for 
which reason provisions are plentiful, and that four leagues from 
the city of Puerto Principe there are a great many fat cattle 
and pigs, from which the Cubans cannot make salt meat for 
want of salt ; that in the woods there are many retreats built 
with habitations for families, when they have to fly from the vil- 
lages ; that the most respectable families of Puerto Principe re- 
side at Caunao, Braya, and other places, or on their estates ; that 
there is a constant communication and correspondence between 
the towns and the country, through the medium of men, women, 
and children ; that there is besides a regular postal service, and 
he mentions the names of one of the mail carriers whom he 
knew, namely, Luis Aguero ; and finally, that in order to keep 
up the spirit of sympathizers, two Cuban papers, entitled El 
Cubano Libre and El Mambi, were distributed weekly with 
great regularity in the city of Puerto Principe itself. 



31 

Captain-General De Rodas, under date of the 8th of December 
last, issued a decree establishing the telegraph money service, 
when he used these words : " On account of the political situa- 
tion and the damage caused by the insurrection, the. stations 
where this service can be carried on are, for the present, limited 
to the following : Havana, Matanzas, Santa Clara, Pinar del 
Bio, Cardenas, Cienfuegos. Sagiia La Grande, Guanajay, San 
Antonio, Colon, Bemba, Remedios, San Cristobal, San Diego, 
and Consolacion del Sur." It will be seen by reference to the 
map that the places mentioned are all situated on the Western 
half of the Island, but the real extent of Spanish rule is still 
less. 

The list of Cubans whose property has been confiscated by 
the Government is now many thousands, and the value of their 
property is many millions of dollars. Not less considerable is 
the number of individuals of all classes of society who have 
been banished without trial. It is but lately — on the 24th of 
December last — that upward of fifty of the most respectable 
and wealthy citizens of Havana received the order to embark 
for Spain on twenty-four hours' notice. Many others await the 
same fate. Is this revolution, then, subdued ? Is it confined to 
a few disorderly men % 

Spain has sent to Cuba, within the last three months, over 
17,000 men, and she continues to send more. She has trebled 
her navy on that ocean ; she has taken thirty gun-boats from 
New York ; she has collected together an immense mass of war 
supplies. All these are preparations for a winter campaign, for 
during the summer her army and her resources have almost dis- 
appeared. Have such formidable armaments ever been made 
against a contemptible enemy, or against a conquered foe ? 






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